Each autumn, over 50,000 brave souls line up at the head of the Verrazano Narrows bridge in Staten Island to begin running the 26.2 mile course of the New York City Marathon. Millions of New Yorkers and visitors crowd along the marathon’s path to cheer on the runners, celebrate with neighbors, turn perfect strangers into friends, marvel at the energy on the course, and laugh at the hilarious outfits that so many of the runners don.
Whether you know someone running or not, whether you like running yourself or not, the New York City Marathon really is a spectacular event! The race covers all 5 boroughs, and long-time observers have entire systems down for rooting people on! DJ’s are scattered throughout the city, playing “pump up” music, and poster boards with encouraging messages and the inevitable cow bells are ubiquitous. It’s always fun (and challenging) tracking people you know, but when you see people identify their runner in the crowded field, it instills a spirit of joy in everyone in the vicinity; a crescendo of joy, a look of recognition and then relief on the face of the runner, brief (sweaty!) hugs or enthusiastic waves exchanged…it’ll bring a tear to anyone’s eye!
While I’ve personally always enjoyed watching from the sidelines, this year I was more of an active audience member! My sister-in-law, Sybil, ran the event, and so my brother Greg and I raced throughout the city, utilizing a combination of subways and short-distance sprints to see her at 4 different points along the course!
We started in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, around mile 4, and were able to give her a hearty send-off! We then got back on the R train and emerged at mile 12, a mere minute or two before she ran past. While we were hoping to catch her again at mile 16, just over the Queensboro Bridge, when we got off the subway at 53rd and 3rd, even after sprinting through a station and making our transfer, we knew we weren’t going to make it in time, so we hailed a cab and “raced” up to 90th and 2nd Ave. As soon as we got out of the cab, we started sprinting over to 1st Avenue. Greg yelled to me as we ran, “She’s crossing 88th Street!” which meant we had to pick up the pace. We reached 91st and 1st Avenue about a minute before she trotted past, still looking strong (which is more than I can say for myself at that point!). We then hoofed it back to Lexington, grabbed the 6 train uptown, and then made it over to 5th Avenue and 112th Street, where my sister Lisa was stationed with Greg and Sybil’s daughter Imogen, my other niece Naomi, and my nephew Jonah. We caught a glimpse of Sybil trotting by right before she entered Central Park for the finish.
Greg and I got back on yet another subway and headed to where the runners funnel out. For safety reasons, everything is very controlled in terms of where they let the runners exit, so we stood in a large group of fellow observers, watching runners be embraced by beaming friends and family. This wasn’t the first time I waited in this spot to greet a specific runner, and I’m always amazed at what energy so many of them still have after clocking so many miles; many of them continue to get the waiting throngs of people riled up and cheering!
All in all, the day was spectacular! I was so enormously proud of Sybil, and so impressed by each and every person who embarked on that challenge, whether they finished with a personal record, or if they were still running long after the sun set…
